Inflatable ball



A. J. TURNER May s, 1928. 1,669,221

' INFLATABLE BALL Filed av 29 1926 12 m/Uza/J l fin @411; I

afz orizgym Patented May 8, 1928.

arRcHrnAnn J. warm n "CHICAGO; Inmnois, fAssIGNoR ,"ro wrns'omwns'rnnn ons Co-MrANY', OF GHICKGQiLLINOIS, A CORPORATION or DELA- INILATABISE mar- L;

iApplicatibn filedzMayaQSg 1926, Seriallifou 1125428.

Myiinvention :relates to inflatable balls, and is concerned with the provision of -11npr ovements pertaining i, to the bladder in sertron openingsof such-balls. i

@I n cei t-aingtypes of inflatable ballsynob ably basketballs, it is quite essential, that there be nothing on the cover, projecting :be-

yond its normal spherical surface, which will'interfere with the bound of the ball or i 7 interior or conce'aled'style I (if lacingnow commonly used in connection with basketballs, there has continued at to Elie-"and, is, a v demand for a basketball --prvided withivisible-and readily accessible lacing. ."lhe purposerof the present invention is to provide a visible and readily accessible lacing, which is not subj ect 3 to the objections -applicable to outside orex'posed :lacing, as heretofore em- .ployed. a I '1 iVhile the improvements of the presentin- Yention are primarily intended to be applied ,to basketballs and other inflatable balls, 'it'is contemplated that the advantages f the present invention may in/ a measure berealizcd in balls which are stuffed or which have their covers filled out by some means other than an inflatedhbladder.

In the accompanying drawing Figure 1 I basketball en'ibodying the improvements of the present invention, Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmen I View of those portions of the ball with Which the present invention is particularly concerned, I a

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary plan View of the interior of those portions of the Notwithstanding the; practicability the is an'elei'ational yiew of the tary plan ball with which the? present I invention is'rparticularly concerned, a

Figure :4 is a fragmentary sectional View taken on the line 4-4 ofFigure Zyand V "Figure 5 isa fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 5-5"of F igure-3. g

:Similan characters a of preference refer to .similarparts throughout the several views.

p :In the drawing 11 haveillustratcd a basket- "ballcomprising the usual cover consisting of 3 the several leather :members. 10+10Whih are stitched together in the: conventional or 'a'ny suitablemanner; iAdjacent}portions of at contiguous pair of the g coyer tmelnbers :10,101are out awayuas indicatedat ll ll to provideua bladder insertion opening 2 of substantial dimensions; ,Althouglrthe par- 'ticular -'dime1'1sions of this insertionopening i are not essential, I will say that 'in a' basketib-allot standard size thiswinsertion opening "ispreferablyone )f'lHCll wide by fourf) or fiveth) incheslong. a 1 Stitched, to the interior i covermeniberswhich.are cut; away; as aforesalid, )are closure "flaps ;1212, which are "formed of a; good quality of flexible leather. alni colnnierciial practice "it is sometimes desirable to form these flaps 12 of two-ply leather, but for the purpose of clearness in illustration they are shown in the .accompanyingrdra'wingi asbeing formed of one- :,:]ily leather. These closure flaps' have surface of ithe i straight;proXimal-:edge's"indicated at 1'313, t

- which; wereiadapted to? abut along the medial 'longitudinalline of the insertion opening aforesaid. iThese closure fiaps Fare asecured to their: associated covermembers 10-10 by theseverallinesof' stitching 14:,{15Qttlltl 16,

and also by the welt stitches 17 which secure the s'ai d eov'er members together;

Formed in the closure flaps l2-12 are two rows of "apertures, each of these apertures preferably being paired with an aperture of the other row and being located directlyopposite the same with referenceto the contacting proximaledges of the said closure flaps. 1

Passing through the said closure flap apertures and comprising portions overlapping the abutting margins of the closure flap, on both the interior and exterior surfaces of said cover flaps, is a lace, generally indicated at 18, which when properly applied serves to hold the proximal edges of the closure flaps in abutting relation to close the bladder insertion opening.

While the specific manner of threading the lace through the several closure flap apertures is not material so far as the present invention is concerned, I will say that I prefer to employ the style of lacing which is fully descrioed in my co-pending application, Serial No. 112,427 filed May 29, 1926, Patent No. 1,621,043, that is a style of lacing which atfords a plurality of parallel two-ply exterior lace portions, indicated in the drawing at 19, and a plurality of crossing one-ply interior lace portions indicated in the drawing at which maintain the parallelism of the external two-ply lace portions aforesaid.

Regardless of the style of lacing employed, it is desirable that the exposed portions of the lace, whether they be one-ply or. two-ply, shall be of substantially the same thickness as the cover members 10-10.

In order that the ball when landing with the lace engaging the playing floor will have substantially the same bound as is given the ball. when any other part of its exterior surface engages the playing floor, it is, of

course, desirable that the exposed portions of the lace, whether one-ply'or two-ply, be not substantially thicker than the cover members 10'10.

The lace employed is preferably either a good quality fiat fabric lace I or a thong formed of calf skin or buck skin, which is thin, strong and tough. YVhen a fabric lace is employed its endsare preferablyknotted together, as indicated at 21, the knot being slipped back betweenthe proximal edges of the closure flaps in order that it may not be visible. I

It will be understood that the ball cover here illustrated may, if desired, be provided with the conventional fabric lining (not shown). Furthermore, and if desired, the cover? may be provided with a leatheriiap 22 which will lie between the interior portions of the lace and the bladder to: prevent chafing of the bladder. When the said protect-ing flap is employed, it is preferably held in position by a line'of stitching indicated at23.

I have not illustrated a bladderin the accompanying drawing because the present invention is not concerned with any of the details of a bladder. The improvements of the present inventionmay be applied to a ball ofv the type wherein a bladder is inflated after the closure of the insertion opening, or may be applied to a ball equipped with the old style bladder provided with a rubber inflation tube which must'be closed and tucked back inside the cover after inflation of the bladder has been effected.

Having thus illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, what I claim is new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is- 1. An inflatable ball comprising a cover having portions thereof cutaway to afford an insertion opening of substantial'length and width, closure flaps secured to the interior surface of the cover: and provided to secure the proximal marginsof the cloI- sure flaps together, the exposed portions of the lace lying wholly within the boundaries of the insertion opening aforesaid.

2. A ball provided with a leather cover having adepression of substantial length and width formed in the outer surface thereof,a slitformed in said cover along the medial longitudinal line of said depression, and a lace,having its exposed portions lying within said depression, closing said slit.

A ball comprising a protecting casing having an elongated relatively ide slot therein, reinforcin strips secured to the inner face of the casing on opposite sides of the slot and meetingat the longitudinal center thereof defining an entrance slit, said reinforcing strips lying inward of the outer surface of the casing defining a countersunk portion, each of the strips being provided with a row of openings, and a lacing threaded through the openingagainst said reinforcing strips and lying insaid countersunk portion, as and for the purpose specified.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 27th day of May, 1926.

ARGHIBALD J. TURNER. 

